Georgetown University

Overview - In late May, I visited Georgetown University in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C., an area with colonial charm.   Georgetown University is a Jesuit university and is the oldest Catholic University in the United States.  The 102-acre university about 1.5 miles from the Washington Monument was established in 1789 with the principles of “care of the whole person” and “men and women for others.”  The school is home to four undergraduate schools and four graduate schools.  The four undergraduate colleges are Georgetown College, Nursing and Health Sciences, Foreign Service, and the Business School. There are approximately 6400 undergraduates and students apply to one college in the University.  Students in all 4 schools take the same core curriculum which includes 2 English classes, 2 theology courses and 2 philosophy courses.  Government, history and economics are among the most popular majors.  Students can major in one of nine foreign languages students.  Nursing students start their nursing rotation at Georgetown Hospital at the end of the fall of their Freshman year.  The average class size is 26 students.

Sixty percent of students have at least one internship and sixty percent study abroad.  Generally, students studying abroad take classes with students of the foreign college in their language.  An exception are the students taught by Georgetown faculty in the villas in Turkey and in Italy.

Housing - Students are required to live on campus for three years: the freshman year, the sophomore year, and either the junior or senior year.

What’s New - The university is building a new residence hall and athletic center.  The student center opened in 2014. 

Extracurricular activities - There are 300 student organizations or you can start your own.  .  There are lots of opportunities in sports (NCAA Division IA, club and intramural), arts (e.g., music, theatre), and speakers (i.e., political and non-political).  Basketball is the big spectator sport.  The Center for Social Justice matches students with volunteer activities.  DC Reads is the most popular of the volunteer activities.

Religion – Georgetown has the largest campus ministry in the US.  Campus ministry supports Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Orthodox Christian, Hindu and Buddhist worship services.

Applying – Georgetown is not a Common App school and not a score-choice school.  On 7/1, the first part of the application went live.  Early Action applications are due on 11/1, with a decision on 12/15.  Regular decision application are due in 1/10.  Three SAT subject tests are strongly recommended.  Students need to write a personal statement and an essay for the college to which they are applying.  Recent admission rate is 17%.  The mid 50% of SAT scores are 680 – 760 for Critical Reading and 680 – 770 for Math.

Financial Aid – Admissions is need blind and the college meets 100% of need, with no loans in the financial aid package.  Financial aid forms are due by 2/1.